Habakkuk's First Complaint
Study note
Habakkuk lived during a dark time in Judah's history. The good king Josiah had recently died, and the nation had returned to wickedness under King Jehoiakim. Violence, injustice, and corruption were everywhere. Habakkuk cried out to God, asking why He allowed such evil to continue unchecked.
1 This is the message that God revealed to the prophet Habakkuk. The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
2 LORD, how many times do I have to beg you for help before you listen? I keep shouting, "Violence everywhere!" but you do nothing to stop it! O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
3 Why do you force me to watch all this injustice? Why do you stand by while evil runs wild? Destruction and brutality surround me on every side. Arguments and fights break out everywhere I look. Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
4 The law has lost all its teeth, and justice never comes out on top. Wicked people have good people boxed in, so court decisions always come out twisted and corrupt. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
God's Answer: The Babylonians Are Coming
Study note
God's answer shocked Habakkuk. The Lord said He was raising up the Chaldeans (Babylonians) as an instrument of judgment against Judah. The Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar was becoming the most powerful force in the ancient world. They were known for their fierce and ruthless conquests.
5 "Take a look at what is happening in the nations around you — and brace yourselves for total shock. I am about to do something during your lifetime that you would never believe, even if someone described it to you in advance." Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
6 "I am raising up the Babylonians — that savage, ruthless nation. They march across the earth grabbing land that does not belong to them." For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
7 "They are terrifying. They make up their own rules and answer to nobody." They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
8 "Their horses outrun leopards and are more vicious than wolves on the prowl at night. Their cavalry thunders in from faraway places. They swoop down like an eagle diving for its next meal." Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
9 "Every one of them is hungry for violence. Their hordes push forward like a hot desert wind. They scoop up prisoners like handfuls of sand." They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
10 "They mock kings and laugh at rulers. Fortresses are a joke to them — they pile up dirt ramps against the walls and walk right in." And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
11 "They blow through like a gust of wind and keep moving. But they are guilty, because they worship their own power as their god." Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
Habakkuk's Second Complaint
Study note
Habakkuk was deeply troubled by God's answer. He could not understand how a pure and holy God could use a nation even more wicked than Judah to carry out His judgment. The prophet used the image of fishing to describe how the Babylonians treated people like helpless fish caught in a net.
12 LORD, you have been around forever, have you not? You are my God, my Holy One — we will not be wiped out! LORD, you handpicked the Babylonians to carry out your judgment. Mighty God, you chose them to discipline us. Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
13 Your eyes are too clean to even look at evil. You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So how can you watch while treacherous people run wild? Why do you stay quiet while evil people swallow up those who are better than they are? Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
14 You have turned people into fish in the sea — like tiny creatures with nobody looking out for them. And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
15 The enemy catches them all on hooks. He scoops them up in nets and hauls them away in his dragnet. Then he throws a party and celebrates. They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16 He almost worships his fishing net and burns incense to his dragnet. Those tools keep his plate piled high with the best catch. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
17 Is he going to keep emptying his net forever? Will he never stop wiping out nation after nation without any mercy? Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?