Habakkuk's Two Questions For God

Habakkuk 1:1-2:4

Our perspective matters in how we view things.  An adult can cross a room in a few quick steps, but to a little toddler just learning to walk it might take several minutes, and for a tiny bug, it can be the equivalent of mile.  Downtown Chicago can seem very chaotic from the street, but looking down from the observation deck of the Sears Tower everything seems to move in order. Being the ruler of a country or the head of a big company can seem like a dream position, but once there, it might seem like anything but a nice dream.  This was a lesson that the Lord God showed the prophet Habakkuk in today’s Scripture passage, which we will look at today.

Habakkuk was a prophet to the Jewish people, and the messages given in his book were given in the years immediately prior to the Babylonian captivity.  Habakkuk had two questions and complaints for God. The first was why doesn’t He do something about all of the sin and lawlessness going on (1:2-4). When Habakkuk looked at life from his earthly viewpoint, it seemed that God was indifferent to all the evil in the world and society.  The second question was why would God use a much more wicked nation to judge His people (vs. 12-17). God would show Habakkuk His divine perspective. Life is more than what it seems. The deeds of men cannot thwart the purposes of God. The wicked may seem to prosper at the moment, but God will ultimately right all wrongs.  He is sovereign, and everything works according to His purpose. We need to live by faith, not sight, as Habakkuk would learn.

As Habakkuk looked around, both in his own neighborhood, his country, and the world at large, he saw violence, crime, and misery.  We can see the same today. We ask why God doesn’t do something about it. However, as God showed Habakkuk, if we focus more on sin, problems, and trouble we can quickly grow discouraged and depressed.  God wants us to look to Him, instead, and obey what He tells us. God is working His righteousness even when we do not understand why He works as He does. God has not forgotten us, even when circumstances are unbearable.  He is in control and has a plan (vs. 5). Stop wrestling with unchanged circumstances and start resting in God’s unchanging character. Habakkuk trusted his uncertain future in God.

The second question that Habakkuk had for God was why He would use a much more evil and pagan nation like Babylon to bring His judgment on Judah (vs. 12-17).  God assured Habakkuk that He had plans on how He would judge Babylon. As we see, God does not always instantly judge and punish every wrong in this world.  Many times we have all asked why God allows certain people to go on with their evil behavior and He doesn’t remove them, or why He allows certain conditions to continue.  Like Habakkuk, we ask why, how long, and doesn’t God care. In His time, God will judge evil and reward good. God did judge the Babylonian kingdom when Cyrus of the Medo-Persian empire conquered them in 539 B.C., just a little under a hundred years after the time of Habakkuk (vs. 2:2-3).

Pride believes that we know better than God.  Faith knows we are completely dependant upon Him.  Justification comes by faith alone, in Christ alone (vs. 2:4).  Human works corrupt the Gospel. Faith is not a one-time act, but a way of life.  The true believer, declared righteous by God, will persevere in faith as the pattern of his life.

We need to be patient.  God will work out His plans in His perfect timing.  He hates sin even more than we do. Trust Him even when we don’t understand.  Trust God that He is directing all things according to His purpose.