“It is usual in Scripture to attribute to the Supreme Power, acts which are virtually those of his instruments, and which he merely permits.” – Charles Edward Fraser-Tytler Many false charges have been leveled at God by His critics (atheists, agnostics, satanists, etc.) due to misreading the Bible. Part of the problem has been the failure to understand the idiomatic language used in the Ancient Near East, especially among the Hebrew people, from which our God inspired Scriptures have their origin. This failure has led to more misunderstandings about God and His inspired Word than we can attest to. While the Hebrews had numerous idioms I am fully persuaded that the most neglected one among theologians and Bible translators has been what I prefer to label as “the permission idiom”. This is the idiom that, as we will learn in this study, scholars tell us is one in which God is said to be the cause of that which He merely allowed or permitted or did not prevent from happening. May the Lord use this book to help you understand Him and your Bible better.

The book of Habakkuk has much to teach us about suffering and complaint, faith and fear, and the fidelity of God in times of trouble; it generates reflection on prayer, peace, violence, and faithfulness. In this volume—one of the few commentaries examining Habakkuk by itself—Heath Thomas explores this overlooked Old Testament prophet in order to hear God’s word for us today.