At some point in the final decade of the 600s BC (or BCE), the prophet Habakkuk went to God with a burden. The conversation that follows is a remarkable lesson on faith, humility, and waiting on God.
The book of Habakkuk also reveals the justice of God. It shows us much of God’s heart and what He considers right and wrong. It’s important for us to reflect on God’s sense of justice since people of faith should reflect the God they worship.
In a previous post, I wrote more about Habakkuk’s prayer and the lesson he learned on faith. If you haven’t yet read that post, you may want to read that first. But to quickly recap…
Habakkuk and God Have a Conversation
Habakkuk’s burden is laid out clearly in the first few verses of the book that bears his name:
O Lord, how long shall I cry,
Habakkuk 1:2-4, NKJV
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
God answers Habakkuk in a way that the prophet didn’t really expect.
“Look among the nations and watch—
Habakkuk 1:5-7, NKJV
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans,
A bitter and hasty nation
Which marches through the breadth of the earth,
To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
They are terrible and dreadful;
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.”
And God then explains in graphic (albeit semi-metaphoric) detail exactly how “bitter,” “terrible,” and “dreadful” the Chaldeans (or Babylonians) indeed were.
Obviously, the idea of God using a wicked people to invade and decimate the nation of Judah was not exactly the remedy Habbakuk had in mind for his grievances.
Are You not from everlasting,
Habakkuk 1:12-13, NKJV
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment;
O Rock, You have marked them for correction.
You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And cannot look on wickedness.
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
A person more righteous than he?
Habakkuk continues his protest, asking how God could use a people who are not only barbaric but who make no pretense of believing in Yahweh.
And then Habakkuk declares he will wait for God’s reply. By this time, Habakkuk is confident that God has only given part of His answer and that (based on the nature of God) there must be (as they say) “more to the story.”
I will stand my watch
Habakkuk 2:1, NKJV
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.
**See “The Just Shall Live by His Faith: A Crucial Lesson From Habakkuk**
Habakkuk’s faith is fulfilled because God indeed responds, providing a deeper and fuller explanation of His plans. To accentuate the significance of His revelation to Habakkuk, Yahweh instructs His prophet to write down all that God reveals to him.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
Habakkuk 2:2-4, NKJV
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.”
When God tells you to write something down, you know He’s serious.
God lets Habakkuk know that the vision He’s about to give him may not happen on Habakkuk’s timetable, but it will happen.
And God extends the timeline of His answer to Habakkuk. Yes, the Chaldeans (Babylonians) are being raised up for God to judge Judah, but God will judge them as well. In fact, by the end of the answer, God makes clear He will ultimately judge all the nations of the world.
The Justice of God
In His answer, God reveals to Habakkuk the sins and injustice that disturb Him. While these “woes” are directed primarily at the Chaldeans, they show us the heart of God. For those of us who believe in God and want to follow Him, God’s sense of justice should be our own.
“Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,
Habakkuk 2:5-20, NKJV
He is a proud man,
And he does not stay at home.
Because he enlarges his desire as hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.
Will not all these take up a proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
‘Woe to him who increases
What is not his—how long?
And to him who loads himself with many pledges’?
Will not your creditors rise up suddenly?
Will they not awaken who oppress you?
And you will become their booty.
Because you have plundered many nations,
All the remnant of the people shall plunder you,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house,
That he may set his nest on high,
That he may be delivered from the power of disaster!
You give shameful counsel to your house,
Cutting off many peoples,
And sin against your soul.
For the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the beam from the timbers will answer it.
Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed,
Who establishes a city by iniquity!
Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts
That the peoples labor to feed the fire,
And nations weary themselves in vain?
For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.
Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor,
Pressing him to your bottle,
Even to make him drunk,
That you may look on his nakedness!
You are filled with shame instead of glory.
You also—drink!
And be exposed as uncircumcised!
The cup of the Lord’s right hand will be turned against you,
And utter shame will be on your glory.
For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of lies,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols?
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at all.
But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
In the above passage, we see five “woes” that call out specific categories of sin which are represented in the Babylonian Empire—and also in many other nations before and since. They are:
- Greed and Theft — “Woe to him who increases what is not his…” (Habakkuk 2:6)
- Coveting “Evil Gain” for False Security — “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of disaster.” (Habakkuk 2:9)
- Violence and Conquest — “Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city with iniquity.” (Habakkuk 2:12)
- Debauchery and Exploitation — “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk, that you may look on his nakedness.” (Habakkuk 2:15)
- Idolatry — “Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’ Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all.” (Habakkuk 2:19)
All of these sin categories are grievous to God and He will judge those who perpetrate these sins.
Rest assured. God sees all sin. He does care.
And He will make all things right in the end.
