Have you ever heard yourself ask “Why Lord, do you let the wicked prosper and go unpunished?” If so, you’re in good company with Habakkuk the prophet.
In 2020 during a personal season of intense pressure, I was led to Habakkuk during prayer. I needed answers. Now, with the daily uncertainties and societal disorder, I find myself approaching God again, in prayer, revisiting questions for Him as my spirit is disquieted. And, once again in His wisdom, He has directed me back to Habakkuk. The book of the prophet Habakkuk is a gem in the Old Testament. Scholars suggest it was written shortly before the Battle of Carchemish in 605B.C. when the Babylonians were the undisputed power.
During this time Habakkuk also witnessed violence, lawbreaking, and injustice going unpunished. As a prophet, he was so appalled, by the cruelty and wickedness, as he saw the violent uprisings against Judah. He felt justified to ask:
“How could a holy God use such an unholy nation whose actions would indiscriminately swallow up more righteous men.”
Habakkuk was so sure he was correct in his complaint to God, he cried out and then stationed himself, waiting for God’s reply found in chapter 2. His exchanges with God are recorded in his pursuit to understand why such injustice occurred. This book was used later by Paul in Romans 1:17 as he introduced the principle of “justification by faith rather than by works;” and Martin Luther’s interpretation of this verse contributed to the onset of the Protestant Reformation.
Maybe you can relate to Habakkuk’s pursuit of “why,” as we read together in chapter 1:2-4.
“How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and you will not hear? I cry out to you, Violence! Yet, you do not save. Why do you make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.”
God responds telling Habakkuk to wait for His answer, as He describes their wickedness and atrocities, while stunningly suggesting that He is allowing or “raising up the Babylonians,” for a time. God further shares His strategy that He will hold them accountable, and they will at some point be pronounced guilty.
“Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished!
Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days You
would not believe if you were told. For behold, I am raising up
the Chaldeans, (Babylonians), (6) that fierce and impetuous
people who march through the earth to seize dwelling places
which are not theirs. (7) They are dreaded and feared. Their
justice and authority originate with themselves. (8) Their
horses are swifter than leopards and keener than wolves in the
evening. Their horsemen come galloping, they come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swopping down to devour. (9) All of them
come for violence, and their horde of faces moves forward. They
collect captives like sand. (10) They mock at kings, and rulers
are a laughing matter to them, They laugh at every fortress,
and heap up rubble to capture it. (11) Then they will sweep
through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty,
they whose strength is their god.” (1:5-11 -NASB)
Habakkuk was still not satisfied with God’s answer and in 1:12 after praising God once again he asks: “Why?”
“O Lord, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O Lord have appointed them to judge; and You, O Rock have established them to correct. (13) Your eyes are too pure to approve evil and you can not look on wickedness with favor.”
You can almost hear Habakkuk pause as he contemplates asking God once more. Why?
“Why do You look with favor on these who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?” (13)
Habakkuk then shares his confusion in the actions of a righteous God (vs 14):
“Why have you made men like the fish in the sea…The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, drag them away with their net, and gather them together in their fishing net. Therefore, they rejoice and are glad. (16) Therefore, they offer sacrifice to their net. And burn incense to their fishing net; because through these things their catch is large, and food is plentiful. (17b) Will they empty their net and slay nations without sparing?” (vs 1:15-17b NASB)
In chapter 2:1 Habakkuk is again confronted with waiting patiently for God to speak. You can almost sense his trepidation as he waits and wonders. What will God say? Will He be angry or correct me? However, this time God speaks forth to satisfy Habakkuk’s desire for clarity in the following.
“Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it, for it will certainly come, it will not delay. Behold as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.” (2:2-4 NASB)
Finally, Habakkuk’s concern is appeased as God strongly declares His intentions in vs. 6b- 20:
“Woe to him that increases what is not his.” (6b) … “Because you have looted many nations, all the remainder of the peoples will loot you – because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land, to the town and all its inhabitants. (8) Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house to put his nest on high to be delivered from the hand of calamity! (9)
We find throughout the rest of chapter 2, God declaring his disapproval of the unrighteous acts He observes, as He assures Habakkuk and His people that He will pass judgement in time, ultimately bringing them deliverance. Below are several scriptures from chapter 2, revealing that God is not caught unaware as He declares the ultimate consequences to come.
Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with violence!(12)
It is not indeed from the Lord of hosts that peoples toil for fire, and nations grow weary for nothing? (13)
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (14)
Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, who mix in your venom even to make them drunk so as to look on their nakedness! (15)
You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor. Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness. The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will come upon your glory. (16)
What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, or an image, a teacher of falsehood? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork when he fashions speechless idols. (18)
Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’ To a dumb stone, ‘Arise!’ And that is your teacher? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver and there is no breath at all inside it. (19)
“But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.” (20)
Epilogue -
God’s response to Habakkuk brought him assurance as well as an awe and fear of God’s sovereignty. He chose to ask no further questions. Some scholars suggest Habakkuk’s silence became his statement of faith; and given the holiness of God, man’s best response is silence; not questioning Him, trusting in faith that God always has a plan, as He mercifully and patiently awaits man’s choice to change. Ultimately, God in His sovereignty will have His way, and to those who refuse to comply with His laws and requests, He will exercise in His power, the consequences of a guilty verdict at His discretion. Selah.
A Prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth -
The final third chapter of Habakkuk is a self-contained prayer or psalm for God’s deliverance of His people. This is not a part of the conversations between Habakkuk and God, as in the first two chapters. However, it does align with them, expressing the importance of standing in faith with steadfastness to the end in all circumstances. Here are a few verses for reflection. I encourage you to consider reading in its entirety this small but well-preserved commentary found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Habakkuk’s Prayer: (3:2+)
Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.
His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise (3b)
His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, and there is
the hiding of His power. (4)….His ways are everlasting (6b)
You did go forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed,(13)
You did strike the head of the house of the evil… (13)
Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines,
though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, (17)
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold,
and there is no cattle in the stalls. (17)
Yet, I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places. (18)
I believe we are experiencing a time much like Habakkuk. It is a time of prayer, a time to trust Him, and a time to know Him intimately as He walks beside you. He desires to guide you through these unsettling times. He is God of the past, present and future, and He holds the earth and inhabitants in His hands. Jesus’ words of comfort found in John 14:1 are eternal. “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”
God bless and keep you,
Becky
Covenant Outreach Ministries, Inc.
info@thecovenantcenter.com
www.thecovenantcenter.com
“If I'‘m Healed By His Stripes, Why Do I Still Hurt? by Rebecca Maisenbacher. Available through Amazon, Kindle, and Covenant Center bookstore.
* Spiros Zodhiates, TH.D., The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, New American Standard, AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 37422 U.S.A., pg. 1226.