A Fresh Look at Habakkuk
Habakkuk is a little book in the Old Testament that deserves bigger recognition. In his exchange with God, Habakkuk asks questions that we can all relate to, “How long, Lord, must I cry for help?” “Why do you force me to witness injustice?” “Why do you put up with wrongdoing?” These questions have as much relevance today as they did when Habakkuk first asked them over 2500 years ago.
This week we’re doing something a little different in the Engage God Daily. We’ll focus on the book of Habakkuk and allow excerpts from Senior Pastor, Bruce Miller’s book When God Makes No Sense: A Fresh Look at Habakkuk to help us think through the exchange between God and his prophet. Given all that’s going on in our world right now, we think you’ll find this book timely and helpful in your own faith journey.
Day One | “Why God?!”
Bruce Miller, author
The following comes from Chapter 1 of Bruce’s book, “When God Makes No Sense.”
Let’s put ourselves back in the world during Habakkuk’s lifetime. Israel and Judah had split into two separate nations. Israel had already been destroyed by Assyria. Judah remained, but had been going downhill fast under a series of godless kings. They were degenerating even further into immorality, injustice and idolatry. They were turning away from the true God. Sound familiar?
Assyria and Egypt had been the world powers, but the balance of power was rapidly shifting with the rise of Babylon who destroyed the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 BC and then wiped out Egypt in the famous battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. They were coming after little Judah. Habakkuk prophesied during a time of violent political upheaval; think Arab Spring, Syria and Somalia.
In this chaotic time, Habakkuk’s little book describes an intensely personal struggle with God. The way things were happening in the world did not seem to match with a God who is supposed to be good, strong and just. Habakkuk’s theology did not fit his experience of what God was doing and, more importantly, seemingly not doing.
Most of us come to a time in our lives when we seriously doubt or question God. You may be in a situation right now where God does not make sense to you. You are frustrated, angry, doubting, confused, and even fearful, asking what in the world is going on? Where is God?
Prepare yourself—while Habakkuk will reveal truth about God, it may not be what you thought or hoped. God himself says that we will be shocked by his answer. His ways are incomprehensible, as shocking as human blood dripping from a wooden cross. And yet, if we can grasp a bit more of who God is and how he works, we will find fresh confidence in the chaos.
As we’ll see, Habakkuk began with the ever-persistent question, “Why?” and ends with the everlasting, “Who?” We will see that when things are shaking, we need to trust in the One who is unshakeable.
Habakkuk can be divided into four sections that create a unified whole. The first two sections, roughly the first two chapters, record Habakkuk’s dialogue with God in which he asked two sets of difficult questions. Most of the third section in chapter 2 warns the nations with five woes from God. Finally, chapter 3 ends with a praise song, a prayer of worship to our great God.
- Habakkuk 1:1–11 God says, “Watch”
- Habakkuk 1:12–2:5. God says, “Wait”
- Habakkuk 2:6–20 God warns
- Habakkuk 3:1–19 The response is worship
Read
Habakkuk 1:1-11
Habakkuk Complains to the Lord
1:1 The following is the message which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet:1:2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help?
But you do not listen!
I call out to you, “Violence!”
But you do not intervene!
1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice?
Why do you put up with wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence confront me;
conflict is present and one must endure strife.
1:4 For this reason the law lacks power,
and justice is never carried out.
Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent.
For this reason justice is perverted.
The Lord Reveals Some Startling News
1:5 “Look at the nations and pay attention!
You will be shocked and amazed!
For I will do something in your lifetime
that you will not believe even though you are forewarned.
1:6 Look, I am about to empower the Babylonians,
that ruthless and greedy nation.
They sweep across the surface of the earth,
seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.
1:7 They are frightening and terrifying;
they decide for themselves what is right.
1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards
and more alert than wolves in the desert.
Their horses gallop,
their horses come a great distance;
like a vulture they swoop down quickly to devour their prey.
1:9 All of them intend to do violence;
every face is determined.
They take prisoners as easily as one scoops up sand.
1:10 They mock kings
and laugh at rulers.
They laugh at every fortified city;
they build siege ramps and capture them.
1:11 They sweep by like the wind and pass on.
But the one who considers himself a god will be held guilty.”
- What questions did Habakkuk pose to God?
- What upset Habakkuk?
- How did Habakkuk analyze the problem?
- How did God introduce his answer in verse 4? Rewrite his introduction in your own words.
- What did God imply in the final line of verse 11?
Reflect
Habakkuk is a great book for all of us living during the in-between time, the time between Christ’s cross and his return. In this confusing time where evil still runs rampant and terrible suffering happens to good people we love, we can look to God for hope. It’s OK to ask God hard questions along with Habakkuk as we grope through pain to understand what in the world is going on. But be prepared, the light of insight is blinding as God supersedes our highest thoughts and refuses to be kept in our neat theological boxes.
Habakkuk held God responsible. He felt that God was not listening. He was not intervening. He was supposed to be righteous, but he was putting up with wrongdoing and allowing justice to be perverted. This is not the God he knew. He thought God was just and powerful and would respond to the prayers of his people, but instead it appeared God was doing nothing to stop terrible evil and he was not answering Habakkuk’s passionate cries for help. As we will see, the living, incomparable God will not be contained by any human being.
But notice that God never told Habakkuk he was wrong to ask these questions. We learn that when God at times seems silent, that does not mean he is unaware or unconcerned. He is simply patient and has his own timelines. He prepared Habakkuk by saying, “Watch and be utterly amazed.”
There is something stark in the tone of God’s answer that makes it even more shocking. In response to Habakkuk’s cry, “How long?” God said he was about to empower the Babylonians to come smash Judah. God did not dispute Habakkuk’s analysis of the violence and injustice or the need to deal with it. Starting in verse 6, he simply said that ruthless destroyers are coming to smash you.
It is shocking that God was raising up a ruthless, violent people to destroy his own people for their persistent sin, but he was about to do just that. God is the just judge of all and he will deal with evil. He will set everything right, but it will not be pretty. While God would use Babylon to judge Israel, he will also judge Babylon for their savage violence. We discover in the last line of verse 1:11, they would be held guilty.
Let’s not stand apart from the people of Judah or even the Babylonians, looking down on them from a self-righteous perch as if we weren’t guilty of similar sin. Consider the sins of Judah: violence, injustice, wrongdoing, conflict, strife, abusing the law, distorting justice. Who of us has not been guilty of these in one way or another? What about the sins of the Babylonians? Evaluate yourself: ruthless, greedy, seizing what does not belong to you, deciding for yourself what is right, violent, mocking authorities, abusing others, being frightening to others. Once again, who among us has not been guilty of one of these in some way—even in your own family? Where do you need to repent?
God said they would be held guilty. They bear the weight of their sins that demands divine punishment. Here’s where the gospel comes in, but you have to read more of Habakkuk to see it. In the next chapter, we will see that God’s mercy and our faith are the keys.
As our passage in chapter 1 ends, Habakkuk was not happy. He had more questions for God. He saw God’s cure as worse than his people’s sickness.
Respond
What hard questions would you like to ask God? What has God done, or not done, that upsets you?
How is guilt a universal human problem?
Going beyond Habakkuk 1 to what you know of the gospel, how does God deal with the problem of human guilt?
The complete text of When God Makes No Sense: A Fresh Look at Habakkuk is available on Amazon. Bruce will donate all profits from the sale of his book this month to Christ Fellowship’s Love Fund to help those in need.
