#1165 Habakkuk 1 A Prophet's Complaint

 

The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk's Complaint

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not hear?

Or cry to you “Violence!”

and you will not save?

3 Why do you make me see iniquity,

and why do you idly look at wrong?

Destruction and violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

4 So the law is paralyzed,

and justice never goes forth.

For the wicked surround the righteous;

so justice goes forth perverted.

The Lord's Answer

5 “Look among the nations, and see;

wonder and be astounded.

For I am doing a work in your days

that you would not believe if told.

6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,

that bitter and hasty nation,

who march through the breadth of the earth,

to seize dwellings not their own.

7 They are dreaded and fearsome;

their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.

8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,

more fierce than the evening wolves;

their horsemen press proudly on.

Their horsemen come from afar;

they fly like an eagle swift to devour.

9 They all come for violence,

all their faces forward.

They gather captives like sand.

10 At kings they scoff,

and at rulers they laugh.

They laugh at every fortress,

for they pile up earth and take it.

11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,

guilty men, whose own might is their god!”

Habakkuk's Second Complaint

12 Are you not from everlasting,

O Lord my God, my Holy One?

We shall not die.

O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,

and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.

13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil

and cannot look at wrong,

why do you idly look at traitors

and remain silent when the wicked swallows up

the man more righteous than he?

14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,

like crawling things that have no ruler.

15 He brings all of them up with a hook;

he drags them out with his net;

he gathers them in his dragnet;

so he rejoices and is glad.

16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net

and makes offerings to his dragnet;

for by them he lives in luxury,

and his food is rich.

17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net

and mercilessly killing nations forever? Habakkuk 1 ESV

Habakkuk 1 Wrestling With The Fallen State, Where is Justice

The oracle - A message from God, the word of God was often a burdensome thing for the speaker, yet they came to love it for the sake that it was truth, from God. It is also a weight in that sense, that it is from God, thus weightier, denser, more packed, and fuller than the mere thoughts of men. It cannot be lifted away, as God attests, "heaven and earth will pass away, but My word shall remain."

Oracle (Dictionary articles) (04853)(massa' from nasa' = lift up to carry or to bear) means that which is carried and thus a burden or load, focusing on the effort needed to transport something. Figuratively refers to a prophetic utterance. Massa' is used literally to describe a load or burden on an animal (Ex 23:5, 2Ki 5:17, 8:9) or man (Parts of the Tabernacle to be carried - Nu 4:15, 19, 24, 27, 31, 32, 47, 49). - Precept Austin

…3The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4: 3-4

Habakkuk the prophet saw - The book bears the name of the prophet, and Habakkuk means "strong embrace." That he saw is that he was given a vision. We don't know any personal details about him, but most think he was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, starting towards the end of the Assyrian rule and the beginning of the Babylonian Empire. Habakkuk is deeply distressed over the wickedness of both the rulers and the people of Judah.

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help - Time is always a question of ours, or how much, how many times, we post this in our prayers, how long Lord, or how many times shall I forgive? We live in time and space, and I have often from here, and from a place of ignorance about what God is doing, why a thing continued, why a bully went unchecked, an evil leader was not quickly brought low, or why You let men speak so ill of You? I have been burdened, troubled by a world that expects me to play the Emperor's New Clothes with them, bosses that have lied, people who have dealt falsely with me or others in business. But, when it came to my own shortcomings I asked for patience with myself, for mercy and forgiveness, and I ask that You would convict me of my wrong. 

1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 2How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me? 3Consider me and respond, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death,… Psalm 13: 1-3

Why do you make me see iniquity - There has to be a degree of thankfulness that we can even call it iniquity, for those that can no longer see that are blind. This is a curious problem of evil though, that we recognize it exists, but we have perverted morality, mocked compassion, loss the meaning of words, throwing them about like darts in the dark, and thinking all the while that we sit upon some high ground. I don't doubt that Habakkuk is a pious man, a good man, as men go, yet depending on the vision, depending on the measuring stick you are holding, it is too easy to see ourselves on heights because of those living in the valleys below, yet the clouds hold us back from seeing that there are places too high for us to even breathe. 

…4At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.” 6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.… Isaiah 6: 4-6

Why do You idly look at wrong - "Okay God, we both see this, why haven't You acted? If I had the power to do something about this I would have already done it a long time ago." We show that we do not know the mind of God, and His patience seemed to me, in my atheism, proof that He was not good or did not exist. I found later that I wasn't that good, and then I found myself less than that, and then later I wondered why God would ever save someone like me. It is still a very puzzling conundrum.  

…8Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. 10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.… 2 Peter 3: 8-10

…2But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. 3For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed.…

…5They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men. 6Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them. 7From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.… Psalm 73: 2-7

For the wicked surround the righteous - They are outnumbered here, and so it is a side that men by nature and desire to survive, would seldom pick. There is more company outside the law, in pretending to be a rebel rather than standing in the truth and at the same time loving those who hate the truth on which you stand. 

So justice goes forth perverted - What they call justice is not what You said, God, and when I say what You said, then they scream for their version of justice. If I hate sin, then they say I am hateful, that I hate people, which I can't, for Your sake, for You forbid that; You go so far as to tell me to love them even though they falsely accuse me, but how long, O Lord, how long? Somedays I just want the fish to start biting again, I am tired, I am lonely, but I owe You everything.

…19to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!” 20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter. 21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.… Isaiah 5: 19-21

5-11 The Lord Answers

Wonder and be astounded - Habakkuk, I am still here, still in control, from a place You could not comprehend, immeasurable, and with holiness that would paralyze you. 

For I am doing a work in your days - History is His, He created time, and the measure of omniscience is beyond the finite, yet we would be consumed at too grand a thought, but here is a gracious piece, something the prophet would not be able to come up with or believe without help. 

I am raising up the Chaldeans - Assyria was the fierce power, over the Chaldeans, takers of the northern kingdom of Israel, threatening Judah even, yet not so strong as to evade God. These are ancient people, Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldeans. This will be the Babylonian empire, and God is sending them to judge Assyria and Judah.

Their justice and dignity go forth from themselves - They make it up as they go along, and since their gods are those made by their hands then they have no higher power, no greater authority. Their society decides right and wrong, might makes right, and so like so many others, while they had power they forced their will and ideals. In the end, even though they worship pagan gods, those gods allow for them to steal from others, rape, murder and pillage, so it is really only the idol of their own lust and greed, the thirst for blood, the pride of conquest and the rule of appetite. They are essentially atheist. 

To borrow a common expression, the Babylonians who recognized no superiors were "a law unto themselves!" They did what was right in their own eyes (cp Jdg 21:25) and it mattered not if it was wrong in God's eyes! - Precept Austin

1The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases. 2All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart. 3To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.… Proverbs 21: 1-3

More fierce than the evening wolves - Wolves are a marvel of endurance, they run for miles in pursuit of prey, tracking herds of elk, buffalo, moose, or musk ox. So all day they ran, every stride burning calories, increasing the pain of hunger, but they catch up to their prey in the evening, and their ferocity is at it's peak. This reminds me of when the Babylonians caught up to king Zedekiah. 

5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.

6 Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slew all the nobles of Judah.

7 He then blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in fetters of bronze to bring him to Babylon.

8 The Chaldeans also burned with fire the king’s palace and the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

9 As for the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had gone over to him and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard carried them into exile in Babylon. Jeremiah 39: 5-9

For they pile up the earth and take it - They build siege ramps out of the most prevalent resource, the dirt all around them, but this is at great physical expenditure. This is why the evening wolves are so hungry, and why Nebuchadnezzar is so incensed. War is a huge expense, and what he does to Zedekiah and others, is to show that resistance to him is futile. The city of Tyre resisted Alexander the Great, who also had an incredible ego, and Tyre thought itself safe, impregnable, on an island, and Alexander came back and turned the island into a peninsula. He built a land bridge out to it and tore the city down. 

Guilty men, whose own might is their god - They believed in walls, though even they had work arounds for such, in numbers, though we have seen something so small as to be invisible, like the small airborne particles of the plague or a virus, take out vast numbers of people. They trusted in armies, in chariots and horses, yet all these things were a massive burden to maintain. They were guilty in that they did not want to be killed, yet they were murderers, they amassed large fortunes by theft, yet how dare you even think of stealing from them, hypocrites to their own thinking, stuck inside the dogma of survival of the fittest. Everything they had was actually made from things that God created, the earth, the horses, the metal for the chariots, yet they honored themselves by dishonoring the Creator. 

30 “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’

31 “While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you,

32 and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’

33 “Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

34 “But at the end of 1that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever;

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,

And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. Daniel 4: 30-34

  12-17 Habakkuk's Next Complaint

…1A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations. 2Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God. 3You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.”… Psalm 90: 1-3

Are You not from everlasting - He is stating the truth of God's eternality, His self existence, His being before time, and then says, "O Lord, my God, my Holy One." Holiness is the crowning attribute of all the other attributes of God, and being that God is eternal than these truths about Him cannot be infinite if suspended, and so the prophet does not deny God, yet he is trying to reconcile first, God's patience toward the wicked in Jerusalem, and then God's choice of using the wicked of Babylon to punish the wicked in Israel.

Keep in mind that there’s a difference between doubt and unbelief. Like Habakkuk, the doubter questions God and may even debate with God, but the doubter doesn’t abandon God. But unbelief is rebellion against God, a refusal to accept what He says and does. Unbelief is an act of the will, while doubt is born out of a troubled mind and a broken heart. - Wiersbe

14Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake, I will send to Babylon and bring them all as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice. 15I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, and your King.” 16Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the surging waters,… Isaiah 43: 14-16

We shall not die - This is best understood with the context of God's eternal being. It is given to men to die and then the judgment, but we see in Christ the seed planted in death upon the cross, yet also in Him we have the promise of the Resurrection unto eternal life. 

6 In the days to come Jacob will take root,

Israel will blossom and sprout,

And they will fill the whole world with fruit.

7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them?

Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?

8 You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away.

With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the beast wind.

9 Therefore through this Jacob’s iniquity will be forgiven;

And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin:

When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;

When Asherim and incense altars will not stand. Isaiah 43: 6-9

…8Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the LORD. 9“For surely I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve; but not a pebble will reach the ground. 10All the sinners among My people will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’ ”… Amos 9: 8-10

"we shall not die" meaning not a corporeal death, for all men die, good and bad; and even the Jews did die, and no doubt good men among them too, at the siege and taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army, either by famine or pestilence or sword. ("We shall not die") a death of affliction, which the people of God are subject to, as well as others; (affliction, testing)… is for their good, and in love and not wrath. (On the other hand) spiritual death, which none who are quickened by the Spirit and the grace of God can ever die. Though (their) grace may be "low," it is never lost. Though saints may be in dead and lifeless frames, and need quickening afresh, yet they are not without the principle of spiritual life. Grace in them is a well of living water, springing up to everlasting life. Their spiritual life can never fail them, since it is secured in Christ: and much less shall they die the second or an eternal death. They are ordained to eternal life. Christ is come and given His flesh for it, that they might have everlasting life. It is in His hands for them. They are united (Ed: by the oneness of covenant) to Him, and have both the promise and pledge of it: and this may be argued, as by the prophet here, from the eternity of God, art "Thou not from everlasting?" - John Gill

You have ordained them as judgement - Babylon is not being brought for no reason, but because the eternal God is just, and Judah is guilty, not only guilty, but unrepentantly so.

Why do You idly look at traitors - God, You are pure, so how can You look at evil men? How can You let them continue like this? Unfortunately that is all of us, and when we say "traitors", it is not objectively, for there is a sense in which we think we aren't, yet according to God's word, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

…4For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You. 5The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all workers of iniquity. 6You destroy those who tell lies; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.… Psalm 5: 4-6

1Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? 2You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts. 3But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.… Jeremiah 12: 1-3

…20and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross. 21 Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds because of your evil deeds. 22But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—… Colossians 1: 20-22

…9Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him! 10For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! 11Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.… Romans 5: 9-11

The man more righteous than he - I have always had this complaint and discussed it with my guys, that you can at any time be walked off the job by a man of seemingly lesser character than yourself. It's the why do bad things happen to good people, and why do the wicked prosper? While it may be true that you were unjustly punished, or even deserved to be punished, yet your punisher was excessive, but there is still the problem of the word "righteous". The only way we can say, "more", is in comparison to someone else, yet God will judge each according to his own deeds, and the bar will be His Word, His Son, how do you measure up against His ideal of righteousness? There is only one answer, One place to be found when you read His word, and that is in His Son, His is the only righteousness that God will accept. 

9What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. 10As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. 11There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.… Romans 3: 9-11

…13The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him. 14 You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.… Acts 3: 13-15

Therefore he sacrifices to his net - God, sure, you raised up Babylon, but do You think they acknowledge that? They don't come seeking Your honor, Your glory, they come for their own and then sacrifice to the gods of war. Their kings build monuments to themselves; they think they are gods.

…16He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper. 17You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.” 18But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.… Deuteronomy 8: 16-18

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.

4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: 5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” Daniel 3: 1-6

Is he then to keep on emptying his net - God, will you allow the wicked to continue forever?

…16Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble, 17who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?” 18All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.… Isaiah 14: 16-18